Using a mobile abroad is still a rip-off

Phone operators are ignoring an EU demand to bring roaming costs down towards the price of calling in Britain, writes Ali Hussain

Mobile-phone operators are still dragging their feet in cutting the cost of using your handset abroad, six months after the European Commission ordered action and just weeks before the half-term holidays.

Last week 3, which has 3.75m UK customers, announced it would slash the cost of making and receiving calls overseas, but only in a handful of countries. The commission wants charges cut across the board.

The service, called “3 like home”, lets customers use their bundle of free minutes and texts overseas, but only in Ireland, Italy, Austria, Australia, Hong Kong, Sweden and Denmark, where the firm has sister networks.

The commission said last July that calls anywhere in the EU should cost the same as if they were made at home — roughly 30p a minute. It calculated consumers were being ripped off by as much as £3.7 billion a year.